


Night Phantasm

by ArdentSacrilege (PragmaticKatharsis)



Category: Bleach
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Shounen-ai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-18
Updated: 2015-05-18
Packaged: 2018-03-31 04:36:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3964609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PragmaticKatharsis/pseuds/ArdentSacrilege
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kon wants to comfort Ichigo tonight, but why?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted at FF.net on 6/27/2009. Was one of my first attempts at fluff. Still working on that.

Ichigo sleepily snuggled up closer to Kon. Even though he was cuddling him while the modsoul was still in possession of his body it didn't really bother him. Kon always made him feel safe and warm in his arms, something he couldn't remember feeling since his mother was still alive. One of the best things about just laying here with him had to be the absolute peace that would settle over him. He couldn't pinpoint why that was, Kon just had that effect on him.

In the back of his sleep fogged mind he started to remember why he Kon was in his bed at all. It still seemed odd how their relationship had taken such a strange turn. There were small things at first, hardly noticeable. Kon would ask him about his day or congratulate him on taking out a high level hollow. Somehow the little modsoul would always know when Ichigo was depressed, and he'd distract him. Sometimes it was with a movie or a game. But as they became closer, Kon became more physical in his distractions. There'd be a quick pat on his back, a swift embrace, and eventually a soft peck on the cheek that would leave Ichigo both blushing and pondering his intentions for hours. And finally he'd begun to curl up and sleep next to him in bed, like he was doing again tonight.

Except now the memory of the dream that had woken him came rushing back, ridding him of that temporary sense of peace. He could feel his breath hitch and bit back a whimper as his body began to tremble. Did he wake Kon again?

"Was it another nightmare, Ichigo?" Ichigo's question was answered as Kon began rubbing his back, his hands making small circle patterns. He'd always comfort the boy when the bad dreams woke him up. They were a near nightly occurrence. The courtesy of many burdens placed solely on just one person, and of a boy who lost a part of his innocence far too early in his young life.

Ichigo fisted one of his hands in the front Kon's nightshirt, it always took him a moment to recollect himself after his dreams. He considered himself lucky that it wasn't one where he'd woken up screaming though. And at least it seemed he hadn't accidentally thrashed about and hit Kon this time. He took a deep breath, sometimes it would help to drive away the panic.

"It's...fine. It was only the one about the hollows finding out where I live." Ichigo's voice was still low and shaky. He hated feeling so weak and afraid. He'd heard that some people could recognize when they were in a dream, that they could change the outcome. This was never the case for him. Even as he watched his family's souls being devoured, he could do nothing but stand there. His own fear would paralyze him in place. Just stood there listening to the screams as his little sisters, and then Goat Face were torn to bloody strips in front of him. Ichigo couldn't stop his body from shaking just from remembering it. It always seemed so real...

That was when he felt Kon pull him flush against his chest, murmuring soothing nonsense into his ear. It never made any sense to him why it helped, but it never failed to work. Nightmares never seemed as real when Kon was there holding him. Ichigo could feel himself slowly begin to relax against the modsoul. He felt drained, emotionally and physically. Already his eyes began to feel heavy. There was just one thing he needed to know before he could let himself be lulled back into sleep.

"Why? Why are you...helping me?"

Kon ran a hand through Ichigo's short hair, tempted to spill his heart out to the young man. He knew it wasn't the right time though, Ichigo just needed to be reassured of his presence so he could drift off again. Besides, he thought, three in the morning was not the best time to start that sort of conversation.

"I'm helping ya because you need me right now." Of course there was so much more Kon wanted to add. That he did this because he admired Ichigo's devotion to keeping his family and friends safe. That he did this because no matter how sad Ichigo was he'd always try not to burden anyone else with his sorrows. Or that the biggest reason he did this was the one that Kon was still coming to grips with.

It was hard to  _not_  see how much of himself Ichigo gave away. How he'd ignore his own safety and comfort in order to help others. Ichigo would never just throw anyone away...Kon knew it.

"And don't worry, I'll still be here when you wake up."

Ichigo let out a contented sigh and closed his eyes, no longer able to keep himself awake. The modsoul smiled as he wrapped his arms around Ichigo's spiritual body. Even if he only got to hold him at night, it was enough for him. He could almost feel Ichigo's heartbeat return to it's normal rhythm against him.

One day he'd tell the beautiful shinigami everything. Most importantly Kon would tell Ichigo that he would always be welcome in his arms. That no one else would ever have that from him. Because there was no one else Kon would ever love like he loved Ichigo.


	2. Chapter 2

It was getting late, and still Ichigo wasn't back yet.

Kon let out a heavy sigh as he ceased his agitated pacing around the bedroom. Once again Ichigo was out late hunting hollows when there were perfectly competent Shinigami representatives there in the city. The number of hollows appearing had been steadily increasing, no doubt their numbers would continue to rise until the 'traitors' finally got off their asses and began the war. Honestly, even if they hadn't started to use that demented marble Urahara-san made yet, things already appeared pretty warlike to him.

"This isn't fair!" Kon yelled at the empty room. Stupid Soul Society. Stupid Shinigami. It was their own damn fault they had a madman attacking not only their own world but this one as well. Then they had the nerve to drag Ichigo, Inoue-san, Chad-san, and that bossy boy who was always sewing girly crap onto his plush body into the whole fiasco. What would happen when they were no longer useful to the Shinigami? A small shudder ran through him. Kon knew only too well how they treated things and people they deemed useless.

There was that uneasy sense of dread creeping back up on him again. He was only a modsoul but he wanted to protect what was important to him too! Just because he thought everyone was a little too serious didn't mean he couldn't be serious too. Kon had ideas, dreams, and...feelings. It just wasn't fair that he felt so useless at times like this.

At least when Ichigo was around he could try to get the guy to lighten up or relax a bit. He had a purpose then. It wasn't some grand crusade but it still mattered a great deal to him. Kon ran his fingers through his unruly orange hair, trying to will away the depressing direction his thoughts were taking. Why did everything always have to be so damn difficult all the time?

So deep in his thoughts was he that he didn't even notice when a tired looking Ichigo appeared in the frame of the window. Ichigo cocked an eyebrow at the sight of the usually bouncy modsoul frowning in the middle of his room.

"Did something happen?"

Kon jerked his head up, surprised by Ichigo's sudden appearance. Registering the question he'd been asked he pasted his trademark goofy grin back on his face.

"You're back Ichigo!"

Ichigo was nearly knocked back out of the window when Kon launched towards him, smothering him in a massive hug. Ichigo managed to maneuver them safely onto his bed, even as Kon attempted to squeeze the stuffing out of the poor shinigami. Ichigo patted Kon's back awkwardly, obviously still unused to any contact that didn't involve hitting or being hit.

"Geez Kon, it's not like I was gone for long."

"Yeah, but you were still gone." Kon gave an exaggerated pout. A hint of pink rose on Ichigo's cheeks.

Ichigo cleared his throat. "Well...you can let go now."Kon nuzzled Ichigo's shoulder. "Do I have to?" He asked plaintively.

And there it was, that bright red blush that more then anything made Ichigo resemble a strawberry. Score!

Giving a real smile this time Kon let go of Ichigo, sliding down to recline himself back on the bed. It was always a relief to see him come back unharmed.

Ichigo mumbled something intelligible about 'clingy modsouls' as he stepped down from the bed and leaned Zangetsu against the wall. He shucked off his sandals and with the click of the light switch he lowered himself on his back next to Kon. It was an unspoken agreement that if Ichigo came back late Kon got to stay in his body for the whole night. Which was just as well because he couldn't hold Ichigo like he wanted to when he was small and plushy.

Only now was Kon starting to feel the tension in his bed companion. He must've been more distracted then he thought if he hadn't noticed it before. Sometimes Ichigo really let too much of the stuff that happened during the day get to him. But that was why he was here.

"Ichigo." Kon prodded the shinigami's clothed stomach.

"What?"

"What're ya thinking about?"

"Nothing, go to sleep."

"What if I promise I won't laugh?"

"Drop it Kon."

"C'mon Ichi, you can tell me."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You'll feel better if you do."

"Fine! Orihime...just sorta blurted out that she loves me today. Like really loves. I fucking froze. I didn't know what to say. Then she started babbling and ran away when I didn't say anything. She probably hates my guts now."

Kon just stared at him, lost for words. Had Ichigo never really noticed Inoue-san's attraction to him before?

Ichigo rolled onto his side to face away from Kon. Waves of self-loathing rolling off the emotional teen.

"Just leave me alone tonight."

Kon couldn't help but wince at that. He was supposed to be helping Ichigo, but he didn't really know what to do in that situation. 'I'll just give him his space tonight, we'll both feel better in the morning.'

It was at least a few hours later, and Kon still couldn't get the sound of Ichigo's pained voice out of his head. He really just wanted to hug the boy next to him but...damn he'd screwed up. How badly he had screwed up was only apparent when a white figure, the exact negative of the two lying in the bed materialized near the bed. Even in the dark it was easy to see he was absolutely drenched, his normally spiky hair plastered to his face. And if those angry yellow eyes glaring at Kon were any indication, he was also: Very. Pissed. Off.

"It's raining fucking buckets. And the Old Man's just sitting there on his damn pole being all mysterious and shit. I should wake the strawberry up and make him see how much  _he_  likes getting rained on."

This wasn't the first time he'd just shown up out of the blue like this, he only seemed to appear though when Ichigo was asleep.

The two had reached an understanding awhile ago. When things were bad for Ichigo they were also ultimately bad for the both of them as well. Oh Shirosaki still did his damnedest to take over Ichigo's mind, but when he physically manifested there was a truce, they both needed Ichigo in one piece. Even if the hollow merely wanted him that way so his victory could be that much sweeter when he became King.

"Was hoping tonight you'd get off your ass and finally make your move. Instead you make him do the mental re-enactment of a friggin' monsoon."

"I was trying to help! You're in his mind, you tell me if what I did was wrong." Kon huffed. Stupid uppity hollow thought he was so damn perfect.

"How in the hell should I know? Mr. Sensitive must not have liked whatever you did. Maybe he finally got freaked out about being touched by his own body? Or maybe you just suck at getting into his pants." Shirosaki seemed to calm down a bit, perhaps belittling the modsoul put him in a better mood.

If there was anything nearby he could've safely chucked at the insane whitewashed creep, he would have. Then again chucking things at a hollow did not seem like a good idea in hindsight.

"So what do we do?"

"You screwed up, you fix it. And if he's still drowning the place out tomorrow I'm gonna be drowning you." With that the hollow vanished as quickly as he had appeared.

Great. Just great. Well if he was going to die anyway he might as well make the last night worth it. Kon moved closer to Ichigo and pressed himself against his back, then brought his hand up to hold Ichigo's. He inhaled deeply, the shinigami always smelling so sweet. Like one of those exotic fruits.

Leaning over he whispered to him.

"I love you."

He almost thought he imagined it when he felt his hand being given a gentle squeeze.


	3. Chapter 3

Ichigo's day had seemed pretty normal at first. He'd woken up next to Kon, stuffed the little modsoul back into his plush body, gotten cleaned up, avoided a roundhouse kick by his dad, grabbed a quick breakfast, and finally set out for school. All in all it was the start to a good day.

He was surprised when the ever annoying substitute shinigami badge hadn't even gone off during the middle of class, as it was wont to do. Yes, Ichigo was enjoying this rare chance of being able to forget for a few hours that hollows were real, that he felt obligated to hunt them, and that there was possibly impending doom looming just out of reach inside his own mind. The day had continued to be rather pleasant throughout the rest of his time at school too.

That is until bigmouth Keigo just  _had_  to start talking about 'relationships' and the latest gossip about who everyone was involved with right before their last class.

The subject always made him uneasy, compared to his classmates Ichigo felt he was really lacking in that area. It wasn't that he didn't find anyone attractive, it was more that he never really went out of his way to look for a date. As far as he was concerned it was a bigger hassle then it seemed to be worth.

The closest thing to a real kiss he'd ever gotten was from Kon. Thinking of which he'd been acting sort of different lately. The reassuring and sometimes inappropriate touches he'd started to give still left the teen baffled and blushing. The modsoul had even been staying out of trouble for the most part when he was in Ichigo's body, which was quite the relief as he didn't have to worry about coming back to a body that'd been smacked around by half the towns female populace. Was it just that he cared about Ichigo or was there another reason why he was being so kind? Without much experience to go on he wasn't sure how he should read into Kon's actions. It seemed even when he wasn't around he managed to give Ichigo a headache.

In any respect though, it'd be kinda hard sharing part of his life with someone else at the moment.

'Sorry I can't make it to the movies with you, I've got to go train for a secret war between spiritual beings that night.' He could just  _feel_  the awkward stares.

Then there was all the weird shit that always happened near him. There were times when he really felt bad for his friends, because of all the things that had happened to them just because they were close to him. There was no way he ever wanted to drag another person into that kind of life, it just wouldn't be fair to them.

While he was thinking over all the reasons why he should stay away from romantic relationships as much as possible, he almost missed Orihime's confession. Keigo had been working on her, trying to wheedle it out of her. He was really lucky Tatsuki wasn't around, she would've decked him. But it worked, her face was bright red and she was staring at the floor when she finally stammered, "I'm in l-l-love with Kurosaki-kun..."

Now that was more then a bit of a shock to Ichigo. There was no way she could be serious. He had just stared at her, his confusion more then evident on his face. Everyone else hadn't seem as unbalanced by this revelation as he was. Keigo was wearing that pompous 'I knew it!' grin. Ishida had just pushed his glasses up and glared out the window as if it'd just insulted his latest fashion design. Even that little Mizuiro had been smirking!

Ichigo tried to open his mouth to say something, anything. But all he could do was let his brain shut down as the derisive cackling in the back of his mind began. When Orihime had finally gotten enough courage to look at him after her outburst her ever present smile wavered. Only for a moment though, and then it was replaced by that painfully cheerful one. She babbled something about how she was happy to be friends with Kurosaki-kun and that she needed to go check her locker for something. Then she tore out of that room like a menos was after her.

As always Keigo felt the need to point out the obvious.

"Wow Ichigo,  _smooth_."

The whole mess still seemed like a very bad dream to Ichigo. Even worse was the fact that he didn't even really know how he felt about the whole thing. He liked Orihime, she was a good friend and even attractive if he was ever interested in dating but...If he did love her it was like the way he loved his sisters. He'd just screwed that up too though hadn't he? How do you tell someone that you don't love them in  _that_  way without sounding like a jerk? Where the Hell was the school sponsored educational video on that?

It'd made him feel sick to his stomach, he'd just accidentally hurt a friend without even doing anything, because he hadn't done anything.

Orihime didn't come back to class, making that guilt inside him grow to epic proportions.

Killing hollows until he could only concentrate on the present seemed like a good plan. And it had worked initially, he came back tired, but without as much of the anxiety he had previously. It was only when he put his head on the pillow that all the guilt came rushing back. Along with all of his worries. What was he going to say to her tomorrow?

He would've welcomed Kon's distraction if he hadn't been trying to pry into the very subject that Ichigo wanted to be distracted from. After he'd told the modsoul to leave him alone he immediately regretted it. Kon was probably just trying to help, he didn't deserve Ichigo's cold shoulder. When he did finally manage to get to sleep, he was still firmly stuck in his sea of guilt, hating that he felt so useless when it came to anything other then waving a big sword around.

 


End file.
